South Georgia – an island of contrasts

On Saturday evening, the Akademik Treshnikov and its 130 passengers left the waters of South Georgia after a three-day stopover full of ups and downs. The expedition experienced both the best and the worst weather conditions that the island has to offer. The first landing, in Grytviken Bay, was filled with more sunshine than expected, while there was no shortage of fog, gusty winds and snow for the second stop, in St. Andrews Bay.

But not even the weather could spoil the bay’s magic. It is home to a large colony of king penguins – the second largest penguin after the emperor – and to numerous sea lions and elephant seals as well. Everyone on board marveled at seeing these animals up close. But unfortunately the scientists were not so lucky when it came to their research. The extremely unpredictable weather conditions meant that the visit to the bay had to be cut to just three hours, which didn’t leave much time to collect samples. And the rough seas made it difficult to gather underwater samples from the boat as well.

Several teams nevertheless made it ashore. One team visited two glaciers to take ice cores as part of their research into our climate’s history. The researchers studying the carbon storage capacity of benthic species, which live in the ocean’s depths, were able to explore the coastline and collect several specimens. The teams measuring the presence of micro-plastics and studying biodiversity managed to visit two sites. And the researchers seeking to identify why certain soils consume methane while others release it took samples in the middle of the penguin colony.

On Monday, the ship arrived in the South Sandwich Islands, a chain of 11 uninhabited, volcanic islands that, along with South Georgia, make up a British Overseas Territory. This time, nobody left the boat. The necessary helicopter authorizations had not been obtained, and going out in the zodiacs was just too dangerous. A number of sea and air samples were nonetheless taken from the ship.